My LHBS charges a small fortune because they are the only ones in town. With that said, I do a lot of on-line mail ordering. I am an All Grainer and have found places that have flat rate shipping or FREE shipping. You just have to know what is a fair price is for grains, hops and yeast. I also have purchased several kits from Northern Brewer that were reasonably priced and made some really wonderful beers. The bottom line is this is a hobby. Don't short the ingredients of a great recipe to save a buck. You won't be satisfied with the results. There are things you can do like reclaim your yeast for future batches, grow some hops and work on efficiency to reduce your grain bill. Ensure you proof your recipe before brewing it with a software package like BT. Bottom line is have fun...

brewmeisterintng wrote:My LHBS charges a small fortune because they are the only ones in town. With that said, I do a lot of on-line mail ordering. I am an All Grainer and have found places that have flat rate shipping or FREE shipping. You just have to know what is a fair price is for grains, hops and yeast.

That is so true. My LHBS is also high as hell,and I have almost 10% sales tax.So I buy from Morebeer any order over $59 is free shipping.I drive to Tulsa to buy my grain for $40/50lbs. and brew all-grain batches for $17/5gal.
Man, if your'e doing mini-mashes then just go all-grain and save some money.Look at" Dennybrew" for a cheap mash-tun idea and buy a turkey friar to do full volume boils.You already have a mill so the most expensive part is over.You can do the rest for around $50